National Briefing / Montana

Guilty plea in 2-year-old's death

A Montana woman accused of hiding the body of her 2-year-old son in the trunk of her car while driving around the state for most of last summer pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and evidence tampering.

Summer ManyWhiteHorses told detectives that her son, James, fell from a highchair on the night of May 28, 2007, while she was watching television in another room.

She put his body in the trunk of her car and drove around the state with her 11-year-old daughter for nearly two months.

She paid for food, gasoline, hotel rooms and alcohol with government checks meant to take care of the boy, who was autistic.

ManyWhiteHorses appeared before a judge in Great Falls three days before her trial was scheduled to start.

The 31-year-old woman faces up to 100 years in prison when she is sentenced next month in Cascade County District Court.